NCIS The Father
by TerraRini
Summary: When a poisonous gas is released in Abby's forensic lab, she collapses. While Abby's unconscious in the hospital, the team tries to solve the case that exposed her to the poison, and hopes to find out how to help her recover. Abby has a big secret.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: characters and locations are the creation of D. Belisario, and I claim no rights to them.

"The Father: Chapter 1."

Ducky's crooked half smile flashed in Abby's direction as she delivered the results of the DNA test to identify the victim of their latest case. "Abby, you're looking beautiful, as ever, this morning." He smiled as he took the file she held out to him.

"Thank you Ducky!" She replied, a slight blush rising into her make-up covered cheeks. "The victim also showed high levels of HcG in her blood."

Abby added, as Ducky nodded. "Yes, Abby, Ms.." He flipped open the file "Daniels was indeed pregnant. I discovered during my exam that she was approximately 16 weeks pregnant. She most likely knew she was expecting."

Gibbs appeared behind Abby. "Expecting what?"

Ducky repeated their discovery as Abby slipped away to return to her lab. There were more tests to be done. Her boots clopped on the floor as she held up the card that would grant her access to the NCIS Forensic lab, and the beep that accompanied the flashing light and opening door was soon drowned by the blare of Abby's music system.

Her next task was to dust the knife used to stab the victim for fingerprints and run it through CODIS. She'd just finished dusting the handle when Tony came in carrying a metal box.

"Abs, this box was found in a safe at the crime scene. The lock is electronic, and McGeek is at lunch. Boss wants it opened ASAP."

He set it down on one of the many tabletops in the lab. "Thanks Tony!" Abby replied, standing up to reach for the tape to lift the fingerprints from the handle. "I'll add that to my mountain of things Gibbs wants done pronto." She examined the shape of the fingerprint on the tape as she pressed it over the white paper card.

"Sure thing Abs. Ziva and I are going to lunch, want anything?" Tony asked as he jerked his thumb toward the door.

"No, but thank you for offering. Enjoy your lunch with Ziva." Abby replied, turning around to scan the print into the computer and run it through the fingerprint recognition program.

While fingerprints and matching identities flashed across the computer screen, Abby turned her attention to the box recently delivered to her lab. It was a small rectangular box with a digital locking mechanism centered on the front of it. Abby began pressing four digit number combinations, starting with those most commonly used. 1234, and 4321. The second one was successful, and the box clicked open, exuding a gaseous vapor.

Abby gasped in surprise as the vapor dissipated, wondering what it was, but knowing it likely wasn't good. She dashed across the room to the keypad that would lock down the lab and prevent anyone from entering, then returned to the computer and began a series of keystrokes to bring up the webcam and contact Ducky, who would also be immediately alerted to the lockdown in the lab.

In Autopsy, Ducky had just put on his coat to go to lunch when the computer display beeped and the lockdown alert light started flashing. "Ducky! Ducky! Are you there?" Abby called to him. He clicked to accept the communication and Abby's panicked face appeared on the screen. "Ducky! I'm so glad you're there. I opened this box, and a vapor came out of it. I don't know what it was."

Her breathing was growing shallow. "Calm down Abby. What did it smell like?" he asked, but she was starting to gasp for air. "Abby?" He asked, afraid to take his eyes off of her.

"Ducky, please tell McGee…tell Tim..." but before she could finish whatever her sentence was, Abby had collapsed to the floor.

Ducky grabbed the phone and called the emergency team to the forensic lab, notifying them of a bio-hazard and of Abby's collapse.


	2. Chapter 2

"Tony, you're such a pig." Ziva commented, as he tried to chew a bite of food too big for his big mouth.

She lifted her napkin to wipe the mustard from her cheek while he tried to clean up the mess of lettuce and chicken salad that fell from his sandwich to his plate.

"Well, you're no pr.." before he could finish, his phone rang. His ring-tone told him who it was. "The boss." He said, flipping it open as he raised it to his ear. "Yeah Boss?"

Ziva could make out Gibb's voice on the other end, but not what he was saying. She took another bite of her sandwich, but set it down when Tony's expression changed from the smart-alecked expression it usually held to one of surprice and concern.

"Is she alright?" Tony asked, reaching for his wallet to pay the bill during a brief pause while he listened to what Gibbs was telling him. "We'll meet you there." He hung up the phone, and opened his wallet, pulling out a twenty which he handed to Ziva. "The box we brought back from the crime scene leaked some sort of gas in Abby's lab. They're not sure what it was. She's been taken to the hospital, Gibbs is already there, wants us to meet him. I'll get the car."

Ziva took the twenty and went to the register while Tony went to get the car from down the block where they'd had to park. The shiny black car came to a sudden screeching halt outside the café, and Ziva was inside it in seconds. "Why do you always drive?" She asked, as she buckled herself into the passenger seat.

Tony was already back at full speed and maneuvering through midday traffic. "Because I value my life." He replied, but his mind was on Abby. "Gibbs didn't say what condition Abby was in. Just that she was taken to the hospital…" He felt guilty. It had been him who'd brought the box to Abby. He probably could've opened it himself. He was good at figuring out locks. Not so much picking them, but he could figure out a combination lock pretty quickly when he had to.

Ziva winced. Gibbs was pretty protective of the young woman who dominated the forensic lab. It didn't bode well if he didn't know what was going on. It meant that the Doctors didn't know. "I'm sure she'll be fine. It's Abby." She too was worried as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. She was unbuckled before the car came to a stop, and already had her hand on the door-latch ready to push it open the second the car was in park.

They met Gibbs in the hall beside the Nurse's station. "What's the word?"

Gibbs's expression was one of anger and concern. "They don't know anything. Abby locked down the lab but there was no trace of whatever gas or chemical that was released. There wasn't enough time between exposure and effect for her to tell Ducky what it looked or smelled like. The doctors haven't come out to tell me anything yet."

"What do you want us to do?" Ziva asked coolly. She was always the calm one in emergencies like this, Tony thought to himself while he himself began the typical pacing of someone who's worried and waiting for news.

Gibbs sat down on one of the hospital benches, tapping a foot and holding the caf-pow he'd planned to bring down to Abby just before he got the call from Ducky. "We still don't know what the gas was. Identifying it is how we help Abby. Until they know what it is, treating it will be difficult."

McGee came through a set of hospital doors on the opposite side of the nurse's station carrying a manila file folder. "The lab's still being scrubbed. Abby's not going to be happy about the condition of it when she returns.." He paused, reflecting on the mess of computers being decontaminated and evidence bags being carefully handled so as not to damage or disturb their contents, and yet somehow winding up in difference places than where Abby had so carefully categorized them.

"So far, they still don't know what the contaminant was. Ducky gave me the victim's name, and I ran it. Her husband is Petty Officer Freddy Daniels. No children. He was last seen two nights ago leaving a local bar, but I haven't managed to track him down yet Boss." He handed over the file so that Gibbs could look through it. "Seems he has a history of domestic violence.." McGee added as he looked to Tony and Ziva. "Any word on Abby?" He asked, knowing the answer already, but needing to ask anyway.

They both just shook their heads.

"Tony, Ziva, I want you to track this guy down. Bring him in. McGee, track phone records, bank records, you name it. I want to know everything about these two ASAP!" His voice grew louder as he went until he finished in nearly a shout. The Head Nurse scowled from the counter at the nurse's station. Gibbs lowered his voice. "I'll call you all as soon as I know more."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to the characters in this story. I am hoping that the story is original, and entertaining. It is not intended to be used for monetary gain.

"The Father": Chapter 3

No one wanted to leave Abby's side, but they all knew that solving their case would help Abby more, so McGee, Tony and Ziva all turned back down the hall to leave.

Gibbs stood there, not knowing what to do with himself. He'd lost Shannon, and Kelly, and now he stood to lose the child he'd considered a daughter since she joined his team. Before, there hadn't been time to worry over their condition, to harass doctors for information, or press nurses to tell him what's going on. It had been too late for all of that with his wife and daughter.

Finally the doctor appeared, coming out of the room with several pieces of papers in his hands. He approached Gibbs, with a shrug. "Gibbs?" He asked, looking at the piece of paper in his hand.

Gibbs nodded. "Yeah. How is she?" He asked, looking from the doctor to the door of her room.

"We have her on respiratory support. Whatever it was that she inhaled has done quite a number on her lungs. She's having difficulty breathing on her own. We're doing everything we can." He added. "I have other patients I must see to, Gibbs. You can go in now, but just for a little while."

The doctor walked off, leaving Gibbs standing there thinking "Wh…?" He was about to walk into her hospital room when he heard the familiar sound of a fart. He turned around to see Ducky standing there with Bert tucked under his arm. "I thought she should have him with her. How is she?" He asked.

Gibbs shrugged. "The doctor didn't have much to say. She's not breathing on her own, they have her on support."

Ducky nodded. "And you've sent the team off to solve the case." He held Bert out. "I'll see if I can pry any more information from the nurses. She needs you now."

Gibbs nodded and turned into the room, while Ducky limped back to the nurse's counter.

Gibbs sat down in the chair beside Abby, holding Bert tightly, but not aware he was doing so. The whirr of the machine that was pumping oxygen into her lungs and the beeping of the monitors were a rhythmic noise that seemed so wrong around Abby. Her music choices were usually anything but rhythmic. Her hair was still damp from the scrubbing she'd received upon her arrival at the hospital. Part of the decontamination process. Gibbs looked over the hospital gown she had been dressed in and sighed. She belonged in some black mourning gown or something gothic.

"Abby.." He said, his throat closing and preventing him from being able to say more. Everything just looked so wrong. The lump in his throat remained as he sat there, waiting for any sign of improvement.

Ducky knocked softly on the door before walking in. "The doctors say they have to put in a drainage tube. Her lungs seem to be filling up with fluid. Blood tests have been sent to the lab, but until they come back we won't know for sure what it was, though, I have my suspicions."

Gibbs looked up, "yeah?" He asked, a small ray of hope breaking through the gloom and pushing down the lump in his throat.

Ducky nodded. "The emergency personnel who went into the lab first said it had a musty hay sort of smell. Another commented that it smelled fruity. Both are common characteristics, along with Abby's respiratory distress, of Diphosgene gas. Unfortunately they're already doing everything they can to treat right now. We'll just have to wait and see how she handles the treatment."

"Wait and see. Wait and see. I don't know if I can do that Duck." Gibbs replied, leaning on Bert who let out a fart as he was squished between Gibbs and the chair.

The smile that began to break on Ducky's face faltered as his eyes moved over Abby's various tubes, and monitor wires. "Oh dear." He said, as his eyes came to rest on a particular machine that stood beside her oxygen monitor. He frowned.

Gibbs assumed it was just in reference to the variety of machines, and not this particular monitor.

A/N: Hope you are still reading! Thanks for the reviews. Commentary always welcome!


	4. Chapter 4

"The Father": Chapter 4

McGee looked at the columns of numbers and names in front of him. Nothing looked suspicious here, but the bank records for the petty officer and his wife had shown a large sum of money transferred into their account recently. It appeared as though either they'd won the lottery, or had received payment for something. McGee wondered if it had something to do with the box. Once they knew what the gas was that was in it, they'd have a better idea of what it had been intended for.

His mind moved to Abby. They'd had a relationship off and on, mostly off, for a while now. He missed the nights she'd come over and they'd sit and talk, eat dinner, and then get romantic with each other. Occasionally He'd walk her out to her car after work, and she'd ask him over for dinner. Sometimes Ziva came too, but she usually left before he did. He considered those evenings alone with Abby, until Tony burst through his thoughts with "got any info on those bank records? We put a BOLO out on Petty Officer Daniels, but there haven't been any sightings. He doesn't have any local family except for a step sister who claims she hasn't seen him in years. She said the last time she saw him was at his wedding to Andrea Macomber. Andrea and Ms Daniels didn't get along, so they went separate ways after the wedding."

McGee nodded. "He used his debit card to withdraw six hundred dollars from an ATM on base the night he disappeared. It doesn't appear as though he's used it since. There was a deposit the day before of $200,000.

Tony nodded. "Ziva and I are headed out to their house. Let us know if you find anything else."

McGee pulled up satellite photos of the park where the Petty Officer's wife had been found. It was off base, but not far. Andrea could've walked there, and been attacked. Cause of death according to Ducky was the first stab wound, which had punctured the heart. Other stab wounds were spread out across the victim's torso.

Ducky had noted that there were no defensive wounds, which had led the team to suspect the missing husband in the first place. After all, in most cases, the victim knows their attacker. Time of death had been the same night her husband had been seen leaving the bark in a drunken stupor.

McGee looked back at the numbers on the screen. There was one that was repeated. He tracked the number back to a cell phone, and placed the time of the last call to that number as the night the victim had been murdered.

As he tried to track down the owner, it turned out to be a disposable phone. He scowled and tried to trace the location of the last call. Several punched keys later the satellite phone location traced the last call to the park where the victim had been found. The call was an incoming call to the landline at the Daniels' residence on base.

McGee picked up his phone and dialed Tony's number. "Tony, the last call made to the Daniel's came from a disposable phone. I managed to trace the last call's location to somewhere in the park. There were no disposable phones located at the scene were there?"

Tony's voice took a moment to respond while McGee heard Ziva's voice in the background confirming that there hadn't been any phones found. "No, but we can send a team back to make a broader search of the area. Any news on Abby?"

McGee replied with a quiet "No."

Tony told him that they'd arrived at the Daniels' residence. "We'll be back as soon as we're done here." The click of Tony's cell phone shutting ended the conversation and McGee tried to focus on what they knew.

McGee had considered it was possible that Andrea had purchased a disposable phone, since there were no cell phones registered to either Andrea or Freddy Daniels, but he assumed, if she'd had a phone, it would've been found with her body. Although she'd carried no ID with her, she hadn't shown any signs of being mugged. Her clothing, while bloody, had not been disturbed. She had carried a hand bag, but it didn't seem to have been disturbed either. Inside it had been the box that had been brought to the lab, nothing else, but none of the pockets seemed disturbed.

Abby was supposed to dust the handbag for prints, but so far she hadn't gotten past the knife. Last anyone had checked, the computer had still been running through names and prints on AFIS. McGee left his desk and went to the elevator to go down to Abby's lab.

Standing outside the entrance to the lab, his magnetic card in hand, he looked through the glass doors. Normally they were opened, but since Abby wasn't here, they'd been locked. He ran his card through the slot and waited for the lights and beep that would grant him access to the forensics lab.

He stood there as the door slid open looking in. It didn't seem right to walk into the total silence that was Abby's lab without her. From the door though, he could see the computer screen running AFIS was flashing the green box that indicated it had found a match.

He reached his right hand out for the mouse, his mouth growing dry as he clicked "Ok" to bring up the screen to show who the match was.

A/N Through doing a little research I realized I've made an error with the Fingerprint recognition database. I had called it CODIS, which is in fact the DNA database, and not the fingerprint database. I apologize for this error. Please continue to review, and thank you all for the alerts!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not my own creation. I do not own them, nor really have any right to use them. Thanks to the owners of NCIS for not having a cow about my using them in a fanfic! :D

"The Father": Chapter 5

Tony and Ziva went first to the Daniels' residence. After knocking and announcing themselves, Tony opened the door. It was unlocked. Ziva walked in while Tony held his gun at the ready, prepared to fire if a hostile situation should occur. It didn't appear as though anyone had been home in a couple of days. The house was cold. The cat's large food and water bowls were empty. Ziva cleared the house, and then they began looking for any sign of where Petty Officer Daniel's would've gone. Tony looked through the movies on the shelf, making jokes about their movie preferences, while Ziva seemed to be lost in thought perusing papers from a computer desk drawer. "I do not think the weasel has visited the henhouse in the past few days Tony.. nor do I see any indication of where he would've gone."

Tony smirked. "You mean the fox. And I'd guess by the cabin in all of the photos on the digital frame that they own a retreat cabin, or someone they know does."

Ziva nodded. "There is a receipt here from a wal-mart store in Maine from this summer."

When their search of the house was complete, Tony and Ziva returned to the office, where McGee awaited them with news of Abby's fingerprint search. AFIS had come up with a match. It was not Petty Officer Daniels, but rather a Russian by the name of Boris Czecnikov.

Ziva frowned. "If it wasn't the husband, then where is he?" She asked looking first at Tony, then to McGee. "It would be too much of a coincidence for him to withdraw money from the ATM, and disappear the night his wife is murdered, yes?"

Tony nodded in reply, and McGee shrugged. "Maybe he was taken by Czecnikov."

Tony shook his head. "The boss isn't going to like this. We've had six hours now to track down a potential suspect, now potential victim. McGee, did you see anything in their records that indicated they might own a cabin in Maine?"

Timothy shook his head. "No, but records show several small purchases using their joint account in Maine. I can do a search to see if they're all in a localized area."

He'd already started triangulating coordinates on a map of the state of Maine to see if there was a central point. Ziva was sitting at her desk doing searches on Czecnikov when Gibbs walked into the office.

Neither Ziva nor Timothy would've noticed had it not been for Tony clearing his throat. "Uh, hey boss. How's Abby?"

Both agents lifted their gaze to see Gibbs standing in the center of their cubicles, a caf-pow in his hand. "Some habits aren't worth breaking." He commented to himself, then set the caffeinated drink down on Ziva's desk. "There has been no change with Abby. The doctors at Bethesda are doing all they can at the moment."

He paused, looking up at the screen displaying a map of Maine. "What have we got?"

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is kind of short. Last Tuesday I lost a close relative, and it's been hard feeling like writing and being able to write well. Believe me, I've tried several times in the past week to do it, but it just wasn't coming out right. I apologize for the delay in posting again too and hope that you faithful readers are still reading. Please leave comments/critiques, and I'll post another chapter by Sunday, hopefully a little bit more of a read!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Most of the characters and locations in this story are not my own creation, and I'm merely borrowing them for non-profit entertainment purposes.

"The Father": Chapter 6

The next morning, Tony, Ziva and McGee were in chilly Wilton, Maine, dressed in snow boots and heavy coats. A dark blue rental car transported them from the Colonial Valley Inn where they'd spent the night after a late flight to the gas station where Daniels' had used his debit card the most. It was a small Farmington gas station that they pulled into called Maxwell's. Tony shivered. "Why couldn't he have enjoyed boating in Hawaii?" He asked, as he pulled his coat snug and opened the driver's side door. As he stepped out, a salty slush splashed up against his pant-leg. "These were new." He complained as Ziva climbed out of the passenger side of the car. She snickered, and pulled her hat down over her ears.

Inside, they asked the cashier Liz if she recognized a photo of Petty Officer Daniels.

"Yeah, that guy comes in here once or twice a year, and always buys the same things, a 24 pack o beer, two pounds of ham, a pound of bacon, and a dozen eggs. Rarely ever buys anything else. He was here just a couple days ago. Pre-gamin it."

"Pregaming?" Ziva asked.

Tony had his chance to laugh and took advantage of Ziva's ignorance. "Yeah Ziva, pre-gaming it. He bought beer to drink before going to the bar." Turning to the cashier he asked "Where are the local bars around here?"

"Well, there's the Granary, The Dugout, and FrontStreet. Your guy's the FrontStreet sort if I ever saw em…and I see plenty pre-gamers."

They're all right in town Farmington. Just go back to Route 2, and take 43 instead of following 2 on the other side of the bridge. Front Street Bar's down on Front Street. Turn left right after McDonald's and it'll be up on your left a little ways."

Tony turned to McGee, who was carrying food to the counter. He set down a box of donuts, three coffees, and some pre-cooked breakfast sandwiches out of the heater. "If you guys want anything else, you'd better go get it." McGee said.

A little while later, they were standing inside a dingy bar. A tattooed man named Dave stood at the counter, wiping off a bottle of vodka. Tony held up the photo of Petty Officer Daniel's and asked "Have you seen this man?" of the bartender.

Dave nodded. "yeah, he was here just last night. Had to get a ride home from one of the other regs..he was trashed. Couldn't even make it to the door without leaning in that girl."

"Do you know where they were headed?"

A short time later, they were driving on a very bumpy road in the backwoods of Farmington Maine. When they pulled up to a little hunting cabin it was just before noon and McGee was complaining of being hungry in the back seat.

Ziva remarked that the car in front of the cabin was one of the vehicles registered to the Daniels'.

Tony knocked on the door of the cabin, while McGee and Ziva drew their weapons and waited for a response from within.

A very tired looking brunette came to the door. "Yeah?" She asked, yawning and pulling a plaid overshirt tight against the chill.

She let them in after they flashed their badges and told them Freddy was still sleeping. Tony waved her to a corner, and Ziva and McGee went to the door that led into the one bedroom of the cabin. McGee knocked. "Freddy, get up. NCIS."

A/N: Thank you all for your condolences and understanding in the delays of posting. Please keep the reviews coming! Another chapter soon :D


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: The characters in this chapter are not my creation, I'm just playing with them.

"The Father": Chapter 7

Ducky sat beside Abby's hospital bed. Day 3 in the hospital and she was showing signs of improvement. Her lungs had ceased to fill with fluids, and the doctors had removed the drain. Ducky had insisted the nurse comb Abby's black hair and braid them into pigtails. She almost looked like her normal, pale, gothic self.

Ducky lifted the stuffed Bert, and gave it a squeeze. "I think it were time you woke up, my dear. I'd like to talk to you before Gibbs gets back from the office." He glanced hesitantly over his shoulder as if expecting the special agent to have returned prematurely and be standing in the doorway behind him.

Abby's eyes flickered when Ducky looked back to her. He smiled at her as her eyes slowly opened and looked around. "It's about time." He said. "You've given us all quite a scare." He added, looking up at the extra monitor which showed a steady pattern.

"Let me call the doctor in to see if we can have that tube removed." Ducky stood and limped to the doorway, waving to a nurse who came right over to him. "She's awake." He told her, and the nurse smiled to him.

"I'll get the doctor." Her floral scrubs swayed off as she walked, but the attractive effect was lost on Ducky in his concern for the forensic scientist lying on the bed behind him. He turned back into the room.

He didn't try to get her to talk around the intubation tube. It would be more difficult for her to reply, and she needed to reserve her strength for the visits that would come later.

When the doctor arrived, Duck offered to leave but Abby gripped his hand tightly. He nodded in reply, and listened through the doctor's explanation. It had indeed been diphosgene gas in the box, and once identified, the treatment had been fairly simple, it was only a matter of time before Abby awoke, and now that she had, if her lungs were functioning fully, they could remove the tube and let her breath on her own.

A little while later, Ducky sat beside the bed again, still holding Abby's hand. "How long?" He asked, looking up at the monitors, and listening to the beeps.

Abby smiled faintly. "About 4 months.." She took a shallow breath. "Who else did they tell?"

Ducky shook his head. "No one said anything. I could tell by the fetal heart monitor. And you were trying to tell me to tell McGee it's his?"

Abby nodded. "I guess it would've been worse if he'd known and we didn't make it..." Her voice was shaky.

It was hard for Ducky to tell whether it was caused by her recent respiratory injury or from emotion, but he nodded. "Yes, most likely he would've taken it very hard. When do you intend to tell him?"

Abby took as deep a breath as she could manage and then exhaled. "I've been arguing with myself for weeks trying to decide when would be a good time. We haven't really been together, you know. It was….an accident. My God Ducky, what do I do?"

"Rest, and feel better" Gibbs' voice came from the doorway, effectively silencing Abby, and bringing Ducky to his feet. "The doctor said you were awake." He walked in, leaning down to give Abby a kiss on the cheek.

A/N: Ok, so probably the secret is either not what you expected, or not what you wanted. I hope you're all ok with it… I've always loved the chemistry between Abs and McGee. Thanks to all of you who have sent condolences and reviews. Please feel free to leave more reviews. I'll take my lumps as they come...but hopefully they're sweet! -Terra


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: The standard, these characters are not mine, I just like playing with them and drooling over them…haha!

The Father: Chapter 8

Gibbs smiled as he stood up from the brief show of affection. "Tony, Ziva and McGee would be here if they could, but they're in Maine right now questioning the suspect."

Abby smiled. "That's ok! I mean, I get you two handsome guys all to myself." She tried to sit up a little more, and after coughing a bit, decided that wasn't a good idea. Ducky propped the bed up a little bit for her instead, while Gibbs got her the glass of water a nurse had brought in for her.

Abby wondered what Gibbs had heard, but she didn't want to mention it, because if he hadn't heard anything, then bringing it up would make him suspicious. She wasn't totally sure she was ready to tell Gibbs about the baby. Would this cause problems with her and McGee working at NCIS together? She dreaded the thought of breaking up the team.

Gibbs sat down opposite Ducky. "How are you feeling?" He asked her, setting down a file that he'd carried in with him. It was obvious he hadn't slept well in the past few days by the circles under his eyes and the pallor of his skin.

Abby shrugged. "Like someone punched me in the chest, Gibbs. That box didn't contain any pretty perfumes." She smirked. "The vial was broken. It must've shattered during the attack. Would've made it worthless to whoever was going to buy it."

Gibbs quirked his head to the side a bit. "It was broken when you opened it?" Until now, the assumption had been that the vial had broken when Abby opened the box, perhaps lifting the vial out to examine it, and losing her grip on it.

She nodded. "Yeah, I opened the box and it was like there was a ton of pressure in it. The stuff just sprayed out of it. It surprised me, but when I lifted the lid, there was a vial that was in pieces. When I realized it was a vaporized toxin, I shut down the lab, but at that point I'd already inhaled it. I called Ducky to tell him so he could send help."

Gibbs nodded. Abby had followed protocol, shutting off the lab from the rest of the building and preventing the spread of potentially hazardous toxins. Normally the phone would've been the method used to contact the emergency hotline, but using the webcam to contact Ducky was faster, since Abby was very used to that series of keystrokes, and she would've had to go into her office area to reach the phone.

Abby had another coughing fit, and Ducky handed her the glass of water. "Drink some more water, and then rest. You need it more than you realize." He said, standing up. "I'm going to get back to Autopsy; I have a lot of paperwork to complete." He smiled, leaning down to whisper in Abby's ear "Glad to have you back, my dear." He limped out of the room leaving Gibbs and Abby in an almost awkward silence.

Gibbs seemed oblivious to it. He'd spent the past three days in almost complete silence while sitting with Abby and waiting for her to show signs of recovery.

Abby shifted a little uncomfortably. Now that someone knew her little secret, it seemed almost wrong to keep it from Gibbs, but she wanted to tell McGee before she told anyone else. "So, how is the case going?" She asked softly, hugging Bert to her.

Gibbs leaned forward. "We don't know much more than what we knew when Tony brought you the box, except that the Petty Officer Daniels wasn't abducted or murdered along with his wife. McGee managed to locate him in Maine. They're interrogating him now."

A/N: So, I know there's not much to this chapter, I just wanted to get something out there to you guys since it's been a little while. I'm 6 months pregnant, and with my uncle passing away a couple of weeks ago and getting stuff ready for the baby things have been super crazy here. So I'm sorry for the lack of detail and quality. We'll call it a filler chapter. The next chapter will have a bunch of pulling stuff together and answering questions.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not mine. I own no rights to them and am merely playing about with them.

The Father: Chapter 9

Petty Officer Daniels had an alibi. He had receipts placing him at various gas stations along the route to Maine the night of the attack. He told the team that his wife had started a fight with him over their "pig sty" of a house, and he'd left, rather than dealing with her moodswings, which he did not fail to point out seemed to have gotten worse in the past few weeks.

He'd gone to the bar, gotten drunk, and decided on an impromptu visit to the cabin in Maine. He'd left the bar and driven all night, stopping only to refuel and withdraw enough money to get him through the weekend. He didn't have a cell phone and hadn't bothered to call and tell his wife where he was going.

Tony, Ziva and McGee returned to the office in low spirits. McGee had spent the latter half of the trip using his laptop to research Boris Czecnikov. He'd have worked on it while in Maine, but there were so few wireless networks for him to link to on the drive that it had been more of a hassle to wait for the computer to pick up a decent signal.

McGee wanted to go to the hospital as soon as they returned, but Tony drove to the office first. "I want to know if there has been any progress on tracking down this Czecnikov guy." He explained to a very impatient Timothy. "Besides, didn't I tell you? Gibbs called this morning and Abby's been released. She's staying with the sisters until she feels well enough to be home alone."

McGee shook his head. "No, Tony, you failed to mention that." He tilted his head. "Besides, who do you expect to be working on the case while we're not there?"

"Maybe Gibbs?" Tony replied. "And Ducky."

The elevator dinged and they walked out onto their floor. Gibbs was talking to Fornell.

"About time you guys got back." Ducky commented, appearing at Ziva's elbow. "Fornell has provided us with some valuable information."

Gibbs looked from Fornell to the team. "Fornell's just informed me that our victim, Andrea Daniels, has been under surveillance for the past three months. Her contact with Czecnikov has been brief, but they've exchanged two packages already. The first two exchanges appeared to be small containers in metal safes measuring small enough to fit into a woman's large handbag. Sound familiar?"

Tony spoke up. "So it's likely that he called her to the park, using the disposable phone. She started the fight with her husband to get him out of the house so she could leave unnoticed. She then walked to the park to make the transaction. What happened? Why would he kill her?

Fornell answered. "She had contacted the FBI. She wanted to turn him in, but she insisted on going to the last swap so we could get it on video. She never called us to tell us the time for the swap had been set up."

Ducky nodded. "She'd recently found out she was expecting a baby. The money from the transaction would've made their lives much more comfortable."

Fornell nodded. "Somehow Czecnikov found out. Probably monitoring her phone line."

"We have reason to believe that he confronted her, and the case containing the toxin was damaged during the fight. He would've heard the glass shattering, and wouldn't have taken it with him." Gibbs commented.

Ziva piped in. "So what now? Where is this Czecnikov?"

Fornell grinned. "In FBI custody. With Miss Sciuto's fingerprints from the case, and matching fingerprints on the disposable phone found at the park, we were able to get enough evidence to arrest him."

It was so unusual for their case to have been solved for them by someone else that the team members were speechless.

McGee set down his overnight bag, and let out a breath of relief. "So, can I go see Abby now?"

A/N: So..I hope that was a satisfactory close to the case? One more chapter to come! Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: The characters and events in this story are fictional, and do not belong to me. I just enjoyed the chance to play about with their fictional little lives!

The Father: Chapter 10.

Abby greeted McGee at the door, dressed in loose fitting pajamas. She had a large band-aid over her wrist, where the IV had been, and dark circles under her eyes showed her recent physical trauma.

"Hey Tim." She said, a faint smile crossing her pale face as she stepped back. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up."

"Yeah, uh, we just got back. How are you Abs?" He asked, as she moved back to the couch where blankets were piled high, pillows tucked in corners, and Bert had his own special place on the arm.

She climbed back into the blankets and snuggled in. "Feeling better." She said, her mind racing as she wondered whether she should tell him the news now, or wait.

He nodded. "Is there anything I can get you?"

She shook her head. "No.. but I'm glad you came. Gibbs has been haunting my every step since I woke up." She smiled. "I mean, it's not like I was dying or anything."

McGee shook his head. "I was scared, Abby."

She nodded, thinking to herself that it was probably for the best that he hadn't known about the baby. Her pale cheeks grew colored as she thought about it, wondering just how to put it. Finally, the words just came out as if of their own accord. "Tim, I'm pregnant…It's yours."

They were the last words he expected to come out of Abby, who always insisted that they use precautions on their occasional nights together. He was struck speechless.

"I should've told you sooner, I know, but" She started to explain, when he leaned forward.

"What do you mean, sooner? How far along are you?" His eyebrows furrowed, creating an almost uni-brow effect.

She hunched down in the blankets, the tone of his voice was definitely not pleased. Not that she had really expected him to be happy. It wasn't like they were romantically involved. Their relationship had been strictly casual for the past couple of years, and they'd always used protection. This, as far as she could tell, was one of those times when birth control didn't do its job. She took as deep a breath as she could manage, and replied "About four months. I kept meaning to tell you, but every time I wanted to, something came up..or the time didn't feel right."

"Four months!" His expression was one of shock, and surprise. He forced himself to take a deep breath. "What do you want me to do? Do you want to get married? I want to be there for you, and for the baby."

"Get married!" She was surprised. She hadn't expected him to offer. She reasoned with herself, saying that this was exactly what she should've expected. After all, geeky as he was, McGee was the type of guy to accept the consequences of his actions, to take responsibility for the results. "I hadn't really thought about it…I guess I was waiting to see what you wanted to do. Do you want to get married? I don't want you to marry me just because you feel like you have to."

She paused, not so he could reply, but because the same thoughts that had pestered her for months began once again to race through her mind. Did she really love him enough to marry him? She didn't feel like she had the right to deny him his child, certainly not, but she didn't want a child caught in the middle of an unhappy relationship. And what would happen if this child was born deaf, like both of her parents? Would McGee love him or her just as much as if the baby was born hearing?

McGee nodded. "Abby, I've always loved you. From the first time we met. Even after we stopped dating. I tried to convince myself that you were like a little sister to me...but I know it's more than that now. I can't imagine life without you…it was all I could think about on the drive to Maine, and back after seeing you lying there in the hospital." He moved off the chair and knelt on the floor in front of the couch, reaching for her pale hand. "What would I do without you, Abby?"

"Aww, Tim!" She sighed, knowing that she too felt the same way about him.

He leaned forward, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "I don't know what the Boss is gonna say about this."

Gibbs walked in from the entry way. One of the sisters had let him in, and McGee and Abby were so distracted they hadn't noticed. He looked from one to the other, and his mouth drew up into a crooked smile. "About time."

A/N: Gotta love Gibbs's random and timely appearances! I hope you all enjoyed this little story. This is the first fanfic I've ever actually finished! Yay me..haha. Please review, and if I get enough good feedback, maybe I'll write another one. Thanks for sticking with me :D


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